Resilient support for furnitures



June 5, 1962 R 3,037,766

RESILIENT SUPPORT FOR FURNITURES Filed March 8, 1960 F/GJ. F/e2.

-JQB United States Patent 3,037,766 RESILENT SUPPORT FOR FURNITURES Lader Berg, Spjelkavik, near Alesund, Norway Filed Mar. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 13,687 Claims priority, application Norway Mar. 9, 1959 Claims. (Cl. 267-110) This invention relates to a resilient plate which is intended as a support for a sitting and lying person by being suspended in a frame, for instance a frame of a bed, a chair etc. to constitute a springy support.

It is known, in connection with frames for beds and chairs, to use broad and thick rubber bands which are ex.- panded between the sides of the frame, the bands being braided with each other so that a springy sitting or lying support is obtained. This springy device has, however, the drawback that the rubber bands have to be relatively thick so that the points where they are fastened to the frame, which is often done by means of nails or special pping devices, raised portions will occur causing uneven edges when a fabric is stretched over the seat of a chair. Furthermore, it is difficult to stretch the rubber bands evenly and correctly because they bind to each other due to friction when braided so that they cannot expand evenly over the entire length.

The object of this invention is to provide a resilient sitting or lying support which is not subjected to the above mentioned drawbacks. A sitting or lying support according to the invention consists of an elastic supporting device in the form of a plate, for instance of rubber, polyvinyl chloride or the like, which is perforated and suspended in a frame, such as the frame of a chair, a bed etc., by means of straps which are threaded through the perforations at the edges of the plate and are fastened to the frame, which straps may consist of strong textile.

The invention is to be described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a top view of a supporting device according to the invention and suspended in a frame of a chair,

FIG. 2 is a top view of an alternative construction of the supporting device according to FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a section through the supporting device according to FIG. 1 taken along the line A-A, and

FIG. 4 shows yet another supporting device of the invention.

The supporting device according to FIGS. 1 and 2 consists of an elastic plate 1, such as of rubber or polyvinyl chloride, which plate has a number of perforations 3. The plate is fitted with strengthening ribs 2 around the perforations and the edges, and it is attached to a frame 7 of a chair by means of straps 4, for instance strong textile straps. The free ends of the straps are fastened to the frame by means of nails. The perforations are arranged symmetrically in the plate so that there is obtained a resilient device consisting of uninterrupted parts in two directions. Because the uninterrupted parts in both directions are fixed to each other, the supporting device can take up stresses in the diagonal direction, so that the material is better utilized than in the devices consisting of braided bands.

The embodiment shown on FIG. 2 differs from that shown in FIG. 1 in that the plate is circular and that the perforations are arranged radially in the plate. The plate has, in addition thereto, a circular perforation 9 at the centre.

In FIG. 3 a section of the supporting device of FIG. 1 is shown. The plate 1 is suspended between two sides Patented June 5, 1962 7 of a frame by means of textile straps, the free ends of which are nailed to the frame at 8.

A supporting device according to the invention can easily be adapted to different sizes of frames by varying the length of the fastening straps. Only one size of the resilient plat-e is therefore required for a Very great number of different sizes of chairs and beds. The fastening of the straps are also better and thinner as compared with that of rubber bands which are fastened directly to the frame, so that the displeasing raised portions easily formed by rubber bands are avoided.

A plurality of plates, such as of square form, may easily be connected together by straps, hooks or the like to form greater lengths so as to make them suitable as resilient supports in sofa-backs, sofa-seats, beds, etc.

Such a resilient support is illustrated in FIG. 4 which shows two elastic plates 1 identical with those shown in FIG. 1 connected by straps 4' and jointly suspended in a common frame 7 by means of straps 4.

I claim:

1. A resilient support for a chair seat, mattress and the like, comprising a plate member of resilient material having a plurality of regularly distributed openings passing therethrough, said openings defining a pattern of elon gated ribs therebetween and an edge portion integral with said ribs and elongated transversely of said ribs; a frame; and a plurality of elongated straps of a material less resilient than the material of said plate member threaded through respective ones of said openings adjacent said edge portion, said straps being fastened to said frame to connect the resilient plate member with said frame.

2. A resilient support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plate member has quadrangular form and said openings define a network of intersecting ribs.

3. A resilient support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plate member is of circular shape and said openings define a spoke-like pattern of ribs.

4. A resilient support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said edge portion is thicker than the average thickness of said plate member.

5. A resilient support for a mattress and the like, comprising a plurality of plate members of resilient mate rial juxtaposed edge to edge, each member having a plurality of regularly distributed openings passing therethrough said openings defining a pattern of elongated ribs therebetween and an edge portion integral with said ribs and elongated transversely of said ribs; a frame; and a plurality of elongated strap means of a material less resilient than the material of said plate members threaded through respective ones of said openings adjacent the edge portions of said plate members, a first group of said strap means passing through the openings adjacent the juxtaposed edges of said plate members to connect the same, and a second group of said strap members being fastened to said frame. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

